“I always wanted to be an entrepreneur,” she said. “Everything in life is a question of timing.”

For Marquis, who has been a judge at the Ottawa Food and Wine Show and writes a wine blog, the new store will combine the desire to run her own business with her passion for wine.

“I wanted to get closer to my passion and get closer to people and communicate that passion.”

As the federal government slashes jobs, Marquis is one of a number of public servants opting to become their own bosses with the help of the City of Ottawa’s economic development agency.

While Marquis had years of experience in the public service, she said the courses at Invest Ottawa were very practical and helped her a lot — especially the courses on marketing, branding, Quickbooks and how to negotiate a commercial lease.

“It is really a very good source of information – especially for new entrepreneurs – and it is a good source for networking as well. I met a lot of people. I even met my accountant and my lawyer at Invest Ottawa.”

Part of the city’s push to diversify Ottawa’s government-dependent economy, Invest Ottawa offers a range of services, from mentoring to courses in the basics of starting and running a small business.

While a few courses, like website development, charge a modest fee, most are free.

Lately, Invest Ottawa also has been helping public servants affected by the federal government’s downsizing.

“Our job here at Invest Ottawa is to facilitate the creation of jobs in the private sector in Ottawa,” said Bruce Lazenby, president of Invest Ottawa.

“The sector that we primarily focus on is the export-oriented sector, which means the sort of high-growth, knowledge-based businesses here. However, we are working with some ex-government people as they are looking at establishing some bricks-and-mortar type businesses here in town.”

Lazenby, who spent years working for the Department of National Defence, said he knows what it is like to move from the public service to the private sector.

“I’m ex-government, I spent 20 years in the government. We’re nice people. We’re welcoming, we understand that many people when they walk through the first door are quite intimidated and quite trepidatious.”

Lazenby said a check of a recent course revealed about 15 per cent of the class were public servants. However, they have not been seeing large numbers of public servants trying to find work.

“I think there has been a lot more talk about people leaving government than people actually leaving at this point,” Lazenby said. “I have talked with lots of people who have received their affected notice. They say this organization will move from 100 people to 50 people but it hasn’t happened yet. I think there is still a lot of angst out there, people hanging on trying to figure out what their future is going to look like.

“Until the axe actually falls, I think some of them are going to be hanging on and I think there are a lot who are just going to take advantage of the opportunity to retire.”

Downtown at the Code Factory, Ian Graham is also working on helping public servants become entrepreneurs.

Graham has been working on a two-year part-time course called G2S (Government to Startup) geared to those who want to start a technology-based or technology-enabled business. The incubation program will include peer learning and lots of homework.

“For the right people, getting a package and finding themselves out on their own would be a really good thing for them,” Graham said.

“Out of every problem are the seeds of opportunity. If they’re thinking of doing their own thing and quality of life and working on something they are passionate about, starting your own business can be a really great way to realize that.”

Graham tried to get the course started last year and got a lot of interest from public servants — but prospective students flinched at the $10,000 price tag. He is now redesigning the course to offer it in blocks and is hoping to relaunch in May.

While they are both trying to help public servants cut by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration, neither Graham or Lazenby say they’re getting much help from the federal government.

Lazenby said he is being proactive, trying to let public servants who want to start their own businesses know that classes and mentors are available to help them realize their dreams.

“The difference between a dreamer and an entrepreneur is that first step.”